The Tripura High Court directed the respondents to issue a fresh show cause notice to the petitioner whose GST registration was suspended due to alleged non-compliance and held that the show cause notice was vague and it would be difficult for any noticee to submit a categorical reply, if contraventions are not clearly alleged.
Brief Facts:
The GST registration of the petitioner was suspended because of alleged non-compliance with the provisions of the GST Act and the petitioner was served with a show cause notice after which he submitted a reply with relevant documents, however, his GST registration remained suspended as no decision had been taken by the adjudicating authority till then, he then approached the respondent with a request for the withdrawal of suspension of his GST registration which was also pending.
Contentions of the Applicant:
The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner contended that because of the suspension of the GST registration, the petitioner’s business has been suffering and the show cause was vague and does not reflect the specific contraventions for which the impugned action has been taken but the petitioner on his own had submitted several documents but because of the inaction on the part of the respondent authorities, the petitioner has continued to suffer.
Contentions of the Respondent:
The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent the instructions were awaited as the matter had been taken up on the first occasion, however, in case no decision has been taken at the level of the adjudicating authority, a direction may be issued for him to take an informed decision on the reply of the petitioner within a stipulated period.
Observations of the Court:
The court after going through the submissions stated that the writ petition was being disposed of at this stage without calling for Counter Affidavit of the respondents for the reason that no decision has yet been taken at the level of the respondent.
The court referred to the show cause notice and stated that it showed no specific contraventions of the GST Act or the Rules made thereunder have been alleged and the same was vague and it would be difficult for any noticee to submit a categorical reply if contraventions are not clearly alleged and the petitioner’s business continued to suffer in the meanwhile because of the suspension of the GST registration.
The decision of the Court:
The court directed the respondent to issue a fresh show cause notice alleging the specific contraventions of the TGST Act and the Rules made thereunder within a period of one week to the petitioner to offer his specific replies with supporting documents.
Case Title: M.B Trading vs. State of Tripura and ors.
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Arindam Lodh
Case No.: WP(C) No. 564 of 2023
Advocate for the Applicant: Mr. T.K. Deb
Advocate for the Respondent: Mr. Debalay Bhattacharya and Mr. Karnajit De
Read Judgment @LatestLaws.com
Picture Source :
